The System of Tricksters in F. Sologub’s Early Prose: An Anthropological Aspect

This article examines the system of tricksters in the early prose of F. Sologub. The anthropological and philosophical-ethical aspects of analysis make it possible to determine the author’s version of this metatype. The primary actors in the works under study are tricksters, who align more closely with the major trickster than with the cultural hero found in the fictional world. In Heavy Dreams, Login considers the important person in the town, Motovilov, to be the major trickster and major evil of the place, and he murders him later. Existing between reality and dreams is characteristic of Login, who is struck by the integrity of Motovilov’s low nature. However, Login, the “outsider”, is united with the locals by his exaggerated corporality, which allows for the creation of a system of comic tricksters around his figure. In the novel The Petty Demon, the writer continues his exploration of the low physicality that pervades the city. The exception is the aesthetic and sensual attraction between Lyudmila Rutilova and Sasha Pylnikov. Peredonov’s madness draws many tricksters into his life and mental space. The article analyses the systemic interconnection between Peredonov and “nedotykomka”, Volodin, comic trickster entities – the cat and cards. The peculiarity of the image of the world created by Sologub lies in the chaos of existence induced by the main character and, as a result, in the appearance of several characters or trickster entities in his mental space. This creates a connection between tricksters of different orders – from conceptually significant to peripheral. The chaotic image of the world lacks rational foundations and emotional, let alone spiritual, structure. Anthropological concepts of the body and flesh become the only constructs of the characters’ appearance. In the character sphere of the story The Sting of Death. A Tale of Two Boys (1903) and the novella The Sad Bride (1908), the traditional “hero – trickster” pair functions in the context of the issues under study. The polarisation of the hypermotifs of Sologub’s work – life and death, child and death, truth and lies, harmony and destruction – is carried out within the boundaries of the ethical philosophy of the symbolist author. The characters lose any discernible anthropological qualities, since the main conceptual function here is performed not by people but by their ideas.